What Are Web Standards, and Why Should We Care?
January 6, 2011
Web Standards is a general term for the formal standards and other technical specifications that define and describe aspects of the World Wide Web.
Basically what this means is that it’s important to have a set of rules that are common among web developers to make browsing the internet a better experience for end users. Should be simple, right?
Enter the W3C. This is the World Wide Web Consortium, an international community that develops standards to ensure the long-term growth of the Web. The W3C typically takes the blame for all that is wrong with the internet, probably because web developers and designers see them as an elite group of people making all the decisions for us, and we feel left out.
The biggest problem is actually the incredibly slow moving way standards are lined out compared to how quickly the internet is changing. If the W3C doesn’t begin to keep up, they will be rendered completely ineffective. There are people who have said that the W3C is obsolete and the only solution is to disband it. If that were to happen, companies like Microsoft, Apple, Google and Adobe, the most powerful businesses involved, will begin to set their own standards, and they share a less than cooperative view of how standards should be implemented. This creates, a breakdown in the interoperability process.
Regardless of any organization’s decisions on a standard for usability, a developer or designer will need to consider their users. If the people who visit your site don’t have a positive experience, they wont return. This is why we have to take a look at what is widely accepted as correct ways of presenting information on the web.
Here are a few things to consider during the planning and implementation of any website:
Does the site use valid (X)HTML?
Does the site use valid CSS?
Does the site use any unnecessary classes or ids?
Does the site have any broken links?
Are links underlined?
How does the site perform in terms of speed and page load time?
Does the site have JavaScript errors?
Are “alt” attributes uses for all descriptive images?
Are all links descriptive?
How does the site work across all of the modern browsers?
Is the content accessible with images switched off?
Does the site work well when printed?
Does the site work well on mobile devices?
Does the site work well with different screen sizes and resolutions?
Is there a link to the homepage on every page of the site?
Does the site have a sitemap page, and a contact page?
For large sites does the site have a search tool?
Does the site have a favicon?
This is just a quick checklist to help you identify some of the most important attributes of a web site. Without considering these things users can become frustrated, lost or confused when browsing your site. Remember there is no reason to have a website if it has no users, so consider the “golden rule” of web development; “do unto your users as you would want them to present their data to you”.
